# Fuck it...I'm not voting... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 28, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664 "2004-10-28T13:56:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/21 "2004-10-28T16:02:28Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > See, you’re letting pragmatism get in the way of the _principle_ of pretending the candidates are identical. As somebody who voted for Nader in 2000, that sounds about right to me. ---
**Author:** ![Fox\_Paws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/85e7bf/32.png) [@Fox\_Paws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fox_Paws)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/22 "2004-10-28T16:08:24Z")
> [@Alas!\_Earwax!](#): > > A Libertarian president would be a great thing for this country. Maybe, maybe not. But Badnarik is not the Libertarian president who would be a great thing for this country. ---
**Author:** ![Alas\_Earwax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Alas\_Earwax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alas_Earwax)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/23 "2004-10-28T16:12:01Z")
> [@Fox Paws](#): > > Maybe, maybe not. But Badnarik is not the Libertarian president who would be a great thing for this country. I’ll admit I don’t know a lot about Badnarik personally, but I really like the Libertarian platform. If he’s their spokesperson, so be it. I’d like to see the party get more respect/interest. What don’t you like about Badnarik? I am genuinely interested - i.e. I don’t intend that to be a confrontational question… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/24 "2004-10-28T16:29:39Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Kerry says what I want to hear but I’m concerned his liberalism will screw things up more. Impossible. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/25 "2004-10-28T16:35:40Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Given the choice between the dousche and the crap sandwhich, I have opted to say “fuck it”. I just want to know which one is the douche bag and which is the crap sandwich! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/26 "2004-10-28T16:38:15Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > I just want to know which one is the douche bag and which is the crap sandwich! 😃 Kerry, being 6’4", is clearly the giant douche. I leave it to the reader to surmise the identity of the turd sandwich (Hint: it ain’t Badnarik.) ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/27 "2004-10-28T17:04:27Z")
Something tells me that if there was an “I vote for you all to die you evil, two faced, money-grabbing politicians” option on the ballots voter turnout would be a lot higher 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Psyber1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f14d63/32.png) [@Psyber1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psyber1)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/28 "2004-10-28T17:14:01Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Given the choice between the dousche and the crap sandwhich, I have opted to say “fuck it”. I really don’t care who wins. I tend to vote Republican but I think Bush is an imbecile and Kerry says what I want to hear but I’m concerned his liberalism will screw things up more. I don’t believe half the crap either one says and both are guilty of being full of shit. > > I don’t believe that there is so much difference between the two that it really matters. It’s not like we are voting between Abe Lincoln and Stalin. I’m sure ether one will do a fine job screwing up the country in their own way. > > So good luck fellas. May the best man win. I have been lurking here for a while, but figured I should get a guest account and post on this. I have actually come to a similar opinion. But I have come up with a solution without comprimising or refusing to vote at all. I am going to vote in other elections normally, but for the big one I am voting “none of the above”. Not original, kinda cliche, but fits just right. It eliminates all the problem of just putting in a joke write in, and if enough people do it you see that people just don’t want any of the options. This isn’t to say those from other parties are bad, but they don’t stand a chance and are often seen as akin to voting for mickey mouse. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/29 "2004-10-28T17:25:16Z")
In an election this critical to the USA, why would anyone with a half a brain throw their vote away on some third party person who doesn’t stand a chance of winning? I don’t get it and never will----a vote for a third party candidate is effectively a vote for George W. (Weasel) Bush. How can you help the worst president we have ever had get a second term and still sleep well? ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/30 "2004-10-28T17:32:51Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > Make a stand, vote for a third-party candidate and rest assured that, since there is no way on earth your candidate will be elected, you can safely complain about _whoever_ gets elected by saying “well, I didn’t vote for the douche-bag (or turd sandwich)”!! That has been fairly cold consolation for the past four years. I’m looking for something new and different to whine about, 'till 2008, when I plan on voting for Cthulhu. If I work this right, I might never cast a vote for President that means a damn thing in the grand scheme of things. (Kidding about the Cthulhu thing. Still not kidding about the T-shirt.) **welby** , it’s a reference to “Citizen Kang” from The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror VII from 1996. Aliens, Kang and Kodos, kidnap and impersonate presidential candidates Clinton and Dole. Their disguises are revealed just before the election, and of course the everyone is shocked, but Kodos taunts them, “It’s true, we are aliens. But what are you going to do about it? It’s a two-party system; you have to vote for one of us!” Someone in the crowd says, “I believe I’ll vote for a 3rd party candidate!” Kang replies, “Go ahead . . . THROW your vote away!” (Imagine this in a grandiose conquering-alien type voice.) Later, after Kang wins the election, and Marge complains about being enslaved, Homer says, self-righteously, “Well, don’t blame _me_. _I_ voted for Kodos.” That beautifully encapsulates my feelings about the political process and my dilemma as a non-mainstream voter. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/31 "2004-10-28T17:47:21Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > In an election this critical to the USA, why would anyone with a half a brain throw their vote away on some third party person who doesn’t stand a chance of winning? I don’t get it and never will----a vote for a third party candidate is effectively a vote for George W. (Weasel) Bush. How can you help the worst president we have ever had get a second term and still sleep well? For better or for worse, what you say is untrue for many voters, due to the electoral college. Given that my state _will_ go to Kerry, I could vote for Kerry, Nader, Badnarik, Cthulhu, Josiah Bartlett or John Sheridan or whoever I want and it simply will not affect the election results one whit. In my case, I vote for [whoever] is _still_ a vote for Kerry. Hell, a vote for _Bush_ is a vote for Kerry! There is no conceivable way that Bush could possibly win this state. And some people are stuck in states that will inevitably go to Bush. In either position, you can safely vote for a 3rd party candiate as a way of, uh, making your voice heard (althought it’s nïave assumption that anybody is listening) without feeling any responsibility for who wins or loses. I find that perverse and intensely frustrating, but that’s how the system works, and I don’t know that I could come up with a better one. (Using a direct popular vote has its drawbacks, as well.) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/32 "2004-10-28T17:51:58Z")
He’s a decent, strong, good man, who’ll make a decent, strong, good president. > [@yellowval](#): > > I just want to know which one is the douche bag and which is the crap sandwich! 😃 Since a douche bag is not only harmless, but can actually do some good, and a crap sandwich is disgusting and potentially harmful, I’d say the crap sandwich is the man who’s been responsible for [1,252](http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/) coalition deaths, and [over 100,000](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=8&u=/nm/20041028/ts_nm/iraq_deaths_dc) innocent Iraqi deaths. I’ll vote for the man who’s killed 1 (that we know about). ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/33 "2004-10-28T17:53:21Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again… > Being an undecided voter is like John Wayne waking up in the morning and not being able to choose between wearing jeans or a dress. No, you’re thinking of J. Edgar Hoover… ---
**Author:** ![Alas\_Earwax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Alas\_Earwax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alas_Earwax)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/34 "2004-10-28T18:02:20Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > In an election this critical to the USA, why would anyone with a half a brain throw their vote away on some third party person who doesn’t stand a chance of winning? I don’t get it and never will----a vote for a third party candidate is effectively a vote for George W. (Weasel) Bush. How can you help the worst president we have ever had get a second term and still sleep well? The above sentiment equally confounds me. I think you should always vote for the candidate you would most like to see as president whether or not he is “likely” to carry your state. With the above attitude, there will _never_ be a 3rd party president. I also disagree with the statement that “a vote for a third party candidate is effectively a vote for George W. (Weasel) Bush”. A vote for Badnarik is, well, a vote for Badnarik! Why would I vote for Kerry or Bush if I don’t want to see either as president? And by the way, I don’t have half a brain - I have a whole one! Thus, the fact that I’m voting Libertarian! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/35 "2004-10-28T18:07:29Z")
> [@Alas!\_Earwax!](#): > > The above sentiment equally confounds me. I think you should always vote for the candidate you would most like to see as president whether or not he is “likely” to carry your state. With the above attitude, there will _never_ be a 3rd party president. > > I also disagree with the statement that “a vote for a third party candidate is effectively a vote for George W. (Weasel) Bush”. A vote for Badnarik is, well, a vote for Badnarik! Why would I vote for Kerry or Bush if I don’t want to see either as president? > > And by the way, I don’t have half a brain - I have a whole one! Thus, the fact that I’m voting Libertarian! 😃 No, you should vote in a way that furthers your political beliefs, and changes the political landscape to match what you would like it to be. Nader voters in Florida in 2000 did the exact opposite - it pushed the political middle away from them rather than pull it towards them. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/36 "2004-10-28T18:21:03Z")
What’s this “third party” thing of which you speak? We don’t see those in Indiana! We are pegged Republican an hour before the polls close every time. Indiana hasn’t gone Democrat since the 60s, I think. In fact, I had never seen/heard a presidential campaign ad in all of my 24 years until we went to Kentucky in August and had time to watch some bad TV movies before going to bed. ---
**Author:** ![Alas\_Earwax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Alas\_Earwax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alas_Earwax)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/37 "2004-10-28T18:27:17Z")
> [@Avarie537](#): > > What’s this “third party” thing of which you speak? We don’t see those in Indiana! > > We are pegged Republican an hour before the polls close every time. Indiana hasn’t gone Democrat since the 60s, I think. In fact, I had never seen/heard a presidential campaign ad in all of my 24 years until we went to Kentucky in August and had time to watch some bad TV movies before going to bed. So no 3rd parties on the ballot in Indiana?? That’s fucking criminal. This is another reason why I think the Electoral College is such a horribly bad, antiquated idea. You should consider yourself lucky not to see those horrible campaign ads. Nothing but mudslinging… ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/38 "2004-10-28T18:34:36Z")
> [@Alas!\_Earwax!](#): > > So no 3rd parties on the ballot in Indiana?? That’s fucking criminal. This is another reason why I think the Electoral College is such a horribly bad, antiquated idea. Actually, the Libertarian party is alive and well in Indiana, and feature prominantly on our ballots. ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/39 "2004-10-28T18:35:15Z")
If you honestly believe that the country is _equally_ fucked either way, then please just do me the _personal favor_ of voting for Kerry. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664/40 "2004-10-28T19:06:45Z")
> [@faldureon](#): > > Something tells me that if there was an “I vote for you all to die you evil, two faced, money-grabbing politicians” option on the ballots voter turnout would be a lot higher 🙂 I think you’re on to something. I think it’d be cool if it was an “Election to the Death” arrangement and eliminate term limits. You think you can take the incumbent? BRING IT ON! If the incumbent hasn’t got the sense to step down (and live) in the presence of a clearly superior opponent, or if some halfwit thinks he can get over on the public just because he’s a lot taller but not substantially better, then the alligators swimming in The White House moat get _fed_. We could make it a reality show! Tons of hype, tons of participation, lots of skin and Pepsi sees a humongous boost in sales! Embrace the future! It’s where we’re headed anyway! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-it-im-not-voting/271664.md?page=3)